Breakups are awful. There's no other way to put it. You've invested so much time and emotion into this person who you thought you were going to be with forever, and it's all come crashing down. In these circumstances, I think many of us have turned to our TVs and computers to find something to watch to distract us from how we feel, so here I'm going to be giving a few suggestions of what to watch. Although amount of truth there is to the 'Five Stages of Grief' is debatable, I'll be using them to categorise the recommendations according to how you feel and where you're at with your recovery. Denial- How I Met Your MotherSpecifically the last episode, and only really if you've seen the whole show before. So, SPOILERS FOR HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER! Now that you're only reading if you already know this, in the last episode of the show Ted finishes telling his children how he met their (now deceased) mother, only for them to point out that he's in love with his friend Robin. With their permission, he goes after her with a romantic gesture, which is received positively by her. I personally like to pretend that the last couple of episodes don't exist, because to me they feels so strange. The show spends nine entire seasons building up to Ted meeting the love of his life, and then basically puts across the message that 'oh yeah, she doesn't actually matter, Ted's still in love with the woman he's been unhealthily unable to move on from for decades.' Robin's relationship with Barney, with which so much setting-up time was taken, is completely dismissed. But if you're in a place where you need to spend a bit of time indulging in the belief that unrequited love can work out and you'll get that person back eventually, it's perfect. Just make sure to move on from that notion. How I Met Your Mother is currently available on Netflix UK. Anger- Legally BlondeThe premise of Legally Blonde is that a ditzy blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend (when she thought he was proposing) for not being 'serious' enough. To prove him wrong, she gets into Harvard Law school ('what, like it's hard?') and succeeds there, finding happiness and empowerment as an individual and helping others to find theirs. This film is a wonderful 97 minutes to shout 'what a dick!' at Elle's ex, and if you're angry at your own ex, whether they genuinely did something wrong or you just need to be angry as a step in your process to recovery, this film can be helpful. Again though, just make sure you move on from anger. Bargaining and Depression- Parks and Recreation (or anything else funny and optimistic)This is the point where the films and binge-watching come in most useful, because you need a distraction. I've only just started watching Parks and Rec (I've just finished the first season, which is six episodes), but it's already such a wonderful little distraction from life, and Leslie Knope's endless optimism and fearlessness is infectious. I'd also recommend Miranda Hart's sitcom Miranda, although the focus on the title character's attempts at romance may be less than helpful. Anything optimistic and funny is perfect. Also Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is hilarious: just avoid the final episode of season one, in which a character recovers from a breakup. How I Met Your Mother can be good here again, just avoid the many breakup or sad episodes. Parks and Recreation is available on Amazon Prime UK, and Miranda on Netflix UK. Acceptance- La La LandSPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS FOR LA LA LAND!!! So, we've all seen La La Land. Some of us loved it, some of us didn't. I for one did love it, despite acknowledging its problems. I don't feel like I need to explain much about why I've paired it with 'Acceptance'- the ending is bittersweet, and you can see that although they loved each other and it was heartbreaking when their relationship didn't work out, they still achieved their dreams and had happy lives without each other. The moment in Sebastian's jazz bar where they smile at each other, silently acknowledging this, is a poignant one. La La Land is currently available on Netflix UK. If you have any agreements or disagreements with these or recommendations you think I missed, let me know!
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Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) is one of my favourite books. Because of this, I've watched quite a few adaptations of it (although there are many I've missed!) This week I'd like to talk about four I have watched: what they take from the novel, what I like, what I don't like, etc.
There have been quite a few more adaptations of this novel, so who knows, maybe I'll watch another four and do a post on those! Let me know if you have any recommendations.
This new series I'm going to be posting segments of every now and then is pretty self-explanatory. In Writing Tips from Around the Web, I'm going to collect writing resources and advice from all over the internet on a different topic each post. This week, we're looking at Sitcom Writing. 1) Sitcom GeekSitcom Geek is just what it sounds, a website dedicated to sitcoms, and more specifically the writing of them. It's written by James Cary, a professional writer who co-created Bluestone 42 and has worked on Miranda, so the guy really knows what he's talking about. The information available ranges from advice on structure, character and outlining to advice and information on the actual business of sitcom writing (where to send your script, etc.) If you want to write a sitcom, basically everything on there is worth reading. Since he's British, he refers mainly to the conventions of British sitcom. Here are some of his posts that I think are good general introductions to the blog: 13 Rules of Sitcom Outlining Your Sitcom Script Writing Original Dialogue: Part 1 Part 2 2) The BBC Writers' RoomThis specific page I've linked to above is the BBC's genre toolkit for sitcom, and it links to a page where you can read scripts for several BBC sitcoms. This is really useful because a) the genre toolkit tells you what a specific production company thinks makes a good sitcom, and b) reading scripts is important to get a feel for pacing and layout and formatting. The Writers' Room in general has good advice on developing a TV show/script, although it's mostly not specific to sitcom. 3) Guardian Article- 'How to Write Comedy: Writing Sitcom'I don't really know what to say about this article except go read it. There's some tips and advice about getting to know your characters and avoiding cliches, so it's a good overview of things to remember when writing a sitcom. 4) Simon Dunn, 'Sitcom Writing Advice'This article is really useful. Dunn outlines the many elements of sitcom writing- knowing your characters, structure, dialogue, rewriting- and provides plenty of examples to demonstrate his points. He also points to shows that he thinks are useful to watch and analyse to learn more about the craft; for example, he says that Dad's Army is a good example of an ensemble cast. 5) British vs American ComedyIt's a well known fact that British and American comedy differs hugely. You only need to compare the two versions of The Office to see that, and although you can enjoy both you need to think about which you're going for, and where your show would be produced. Here's a few different discussions on British vs American humour. A.V. Club, 'The Difference between British and American Comedy Might Be Optimism' Forum thread on The Escapist: The Real Difference between British and American Sitcoms What Culture, 'Are British Sitcoms Really Better Than American Sitcoms?' And Finally, 6) Netflix and Amazon VideoI'm not even kidding. If you want to write a sitcom, you need to know how they work, and the reading above is going to be incredibly helpful for that, but also just watching sitcoms is important. If you want to write a pilot, watch pilots from several different sitcoms and make notes on how they introduce the characters. If you want to tighten the structure of your show, watch a few episodes of different sitcoms and try to outline the structure of them to see how it works practically. If you want to write a mockumentary, watch shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation and make notes on how they use the form. Do your own studying to really think critically about how sitcoms work, and that will be hugely beneficial for you in your writing. Good Luck!Image from: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/news/a44359/friends-inconsistencies-continuity-problems-loopholes/
This is the one we're all familiar with. The Clueless Newbie- the character that enters a world completely unfamiliar to them, and we are introduced to it along with them. Harry Potter is the clearest example of this. In the first book/film, Harry finds out about wizards, witches and Hogwarts, and has everything explained to him by Hagrid and other characters. This gives us all the exposition that we need without feeling like it's forced in for our benefit, because it's information that Harry needs. This audience surrogate is also important emotionally- we as the readers or audience experience a sense of awe and wonder at the wizarding world that we see reflected in Harry, making us empathise with him and feel included and welcome in the world. The Mockumentary CrewThis is for mockumentaries like the brilliant and hilarious vampire film What We Do In The Shadows. In this genre of film/TV, the characters introduce themselves, their world and the other characters to the camera crew and audience, giving it the illusion of reality even when we know it's completely fictional (particularly if the characters are vampires and werewolves). In this situation, the camera itself is the audience surrogate, and it's as if we ourselves are being directly addressed by the characters and invited into the world. This means that everything is explained to us to give us proper introductions to the characters and exposition. Unlike with the Clueless Newbie, the exposition is explicitly for us, but isn't forced, as it is when implausible-dialogue-between-characters-who-should-already-know-everything-that-they're-conveniently-repeating-for-the-camera is used for exposition. The exposition is natural, and is part of the storytelling of the mockumentary form through character interviews and introductions. The Rational Central CharacterThe Rational Central Character, for example Jane the Virgin's Jane, provides a focus of calmness and rationality when everyone else around them is being ridiculous and everything that happens is crazy. Because of this character, the plot can get as wild as it wants to and the audience accepts it because they see their own confusion mirrored in the rational character. Most of the characters can take actions that seem wildly emotional/irrational/crazy, but as long as we see that someone in the story is aware of how crazy it is (so we know the writers are also aware of it), we go with it. Implausible, wildly far-fetched plots are hard to relate to and enjoy on more than a shallow level (soap operas, 'reality' TV- not that these formats don't have value, but they're certainly not as emotionally affecting as something more plausible). Grounding the plot in a point of rationality makes it more real, plausible, and relatable. The narrator in Jane the Virgin also serves a similar purpose- at one point when a plot twist occurs, he says 'wow, I did not see that coming!', reflecting our own reactions and heightening the drama by highlighting how unexpected the event was. Or it makes us feel clever if we did actually see it coming. So to summarise, audience surrogates are important for making us feel included in the world, for giving us required exposition, and for reflecting our reactions to the story so we can identify with a character. Are there any types I've missed, or reasons they're important? Let me know! Image from http://www.thewrap.com/15-harry-potter-magical-facts-sorcerers-stone-15th-anniversary-photos/ |
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."- Philip Pullman Archives
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